I had planned to do a bumpdate at 30 weeks, but we've been so busy trying to remodel the house we are moving into that there hasn't been much time for anything else. I can't believe 32 weeks has come and gone, and that we are now less than 2 months away from having baby girl (if she is born on or near her due date).

October 24th was my three year anniversary as a stay at home mom. Prior to staying home I worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry for seven years. In some ways leaving was a very easy decision to make, and in other ways it was very difficult. I've always worked. My first babysitting job was at eleven years old and I continued doing that on weekends, evenings and summer breaks until I was old enough to be hired at a local Hi-School Pharmacy. Even while I was in college I kept working, at one point I was going to school and working two jobs. I began with the state as a seasonal employee, but was hired permanently a few months after my seasonal job had ended. For the most part I loved working there. A lot of my co-workers were great, the customers always entertaining, but the summer hours during fire season were brutal with a little one. Mark and I had talked about it here and there, but it wasn't until we were unhappy with our daycare situation that we really sat down and found a way  to make my leaving my job work. I think we were both equally worried about finances, but were shocked to see that once gas, daycare and other expenses relating to my working were taken out of the equation we really weren't left with a lot. It's eye opening to really look at how much it costs to work.

Well it was the wettest Halloween we've ever had with Amelia. It reminded me of one year when I was was younger. My dad drove my sister, our neighbor and I around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat and it was raining so hard that water was coming into the back of my dad's Camaro. Amelia doesn't go crazy on Halloween. She doesn't care about going to a ton of houses and getting tons of candy. She's happy just doing one or two streets and calling it good. For the past several years we've gone to my grandma's house on Halloween. Mom usually makes dinner and we take Amelia around to her neighbors. I like that this gives my grandma the opportunity to see Amelia. This year was especially fun because Liam dressed up with Amelia for his first Halloween and even went out trick-or-treating with us. 

Amelia has been obsessed with horses for as long as I can remember. She has horse toys all over, horse bedding, horse clothing and after asking several times... now she has horse lessons. When we realized this wasn't a phase she'd grow out of anytime soon we decided to let her start riding. My cousin Emily is the exact same way. I remember her being horse crazy and that love for them just never went away. Thankfully Emily has horses and lives close enough to teach Amelia everything she will ever want to know about horses. She has had a few lessons now and is completely addicted. I joke that she'd probably live in Em's barn if we let her, but I really don't think that's too far from the truth. I love watching how excited she gets when she sees the horses, and how eager she is to ride them. 

Photo taken at 22weeks 2 days

She was moving so much it was hard for the tech to get a good clear photo. I'm already so in love with her.

Sunday we woke up early and headed down to Winston, Oregon to go to Wildlife Safari. Amelia has been begging for us to take her since she went a couple of years ago with Grace and Chris. We were so excited my mom was able to go with us, since none of us had ever gone before. It ended up being a really great day and such a fun time. The drive is about three hours from our house, but definitely worth it. With your passes you are able to drive through two times, but we decided we only wanted to go through once. I'm glad we arrived when we did because it ended up being a hot day and most of the animals, while they were still out roaming around, were heading off to shade. I think if we had gone through any later we would have missed them being up. We saw everything from lions to a zebra that was just feet away from our window. Elk, several different types of deer, cheetahs, tigers, monkeys, elephants, bears and so many more animals. Amelia enjoyed going from one window to the other looking at everything.

Amelia is a very artistic little girl. She's been able to color in the lines since before she could talk... okay that might be a slight exaggeration, but the girl is crazy good at drawing and painting. When I found out a paint studio opened up in our little town I knew I had to sign her up for the kids classes.

I'm ready for Fall! This 90+ degree weather in Oregon in September just isn't my thing. I'm anxious to decorate our home with fall colors and only burn pumpkin candles for the next three or four months. Fall is definitely the best season!

I thought I'd share my absolute favorite piece of art that I hang on my wall this time of year. I posted this craft project a couple of years ago, but it's definitely worth posting again. It's a fun activity to do with the kids and a great piece of art to hang on the wall year after year.

This past weekend we headed to Seaside so that Amelia could dance in her first feis (Irish dance competition). Amelia started Irish dancing in April and really loves it. I was excited to see her compete for the first time, but also incredibly nervous for her. She's always been pretty shy and I wasn't sure how she'd do getting up in front of a couple hundred people and dancing. I was so excited that all of my family wanted to go with us. Mom, Erica, Grace, Chris, Liam and even my Grandma Grace all joined us. It was a great time, and a new experience for us all.

Saturday Amelia was entered into first feis competitions and beginner competition. I could tell she was so nervous, red face and all, but she did an amazing job! Really, I am so proud of her. A year ago she wouldn't have even considered dancing in front of anyone other than family, but she got up and did it like it was no big deal. I'm pretty sure I have kindergarten to thank for her being more outgoing.

Sunday Amelia danced at a beginner level in all of the soft shoe dances she knows. Again, she did really great! We have another feis coming up in October and she can't wait. She came home with three medals and a trophy that we now get to display in her bedroom. Watching her dance was seriously the cutest thing in the world.

Today was Amelia's first day of first grade. She's been anxious to go back to school for a few weeks now. She loves school so much. This morning was so different from last year. She wasn't scared or nervous. She woke up, got ready and skipped into her classroom with a big smile on her face. I have a feeling this is going to be another amazing year for our girl.

An after school photo. The rain destroyed her curls but she had a great day.

I've been bad about taking pictures

I don't believe I've talked about this much on the blog before. When Amelia was very little, two or so, we started working on the alphabet with her. She picked up a few letters here and there, mainly the ones in her name, but she just didn't "get it". Obviously I wasn't too concerned when she was that little, but as she got a bit older and closer to kindergarten I began to worry. We would play alphabet games, watch alphabet shows and used alphabet flashcards. She would sit with me for just a short time before losing all interest. It didn't make any sense to me. She had been doing math problems in her head since she was three. We could say "Amelia, what's 5+3" and in a matter of seconds she'd say 8. No fingers. No looking at the numbers. Just in her head. I did not want her to start kindergarten without at least knowing her alphabet (I had given up hope on her knowing the letter sounds prior to her first day of school), but I was at a loss about what to do. Mark reassured me that she'd get it once she was in the school setting. Something in me just felt there was something preventing her from learning them, but I had no clue what it was.